2 Red-Light Cameras Stay In Orland; Another One Planned To Go Up

ORLAND PARK, IL — The two red-light cameras in Orland Park don't appear to be going anywhere, as trustees unanimously approved a contract extension with a national red-light camera provider and have asked that Sensys Gatso USA, Inc., the provider, to install at least one more camera before July 2021.

That additional camera, Orland Park Police Chief Tim McCarthy said, is sought to go up at the intersection of 159th Street and 94th Avenue, the Orland Park site where McCarthy said more traffic crashes occur than any other location in the village. The village already has red-light cameras in use at 151st and Harlem and 159th and Harlem. A third camera that had been in place at 151st and La Grange Road has been disabled since construction began on the now completed corridor.

The decision to renew the contract with Gatso comes amid legislation at the state level that, if passed, would prohibit the use of red-light cameras in Illinois. A separate bill that if passed would only ban the cameras in non-home rule Illinois municipalities but that would not affect Orland Park.

"We are aware of it, and if they ban it they will simply have to come out," McCarthy said. "The revenue does not have a big impact on the budget of Orland Park, but it is revenue."

Already though, state of Illinois officials have decided they will no longer assist local municipalities in collecting revenue from red-light camera violations. McCarthy said tickets in Orland Park are not issued to those who commit a "rolling stop" while turning right on a red light unless there is a pedestrian in the area.

Orland Park officials did not have specific numbers on how much money is brought in yearly by the red-light cameras. Gatso representatives have not responded to inquiries regarding their newly renewed contract with the village.

>>> Illinois Drivers Have Paid $1 Billion In Red-Light Camera Tickets In Last Decade

Orland Park's contract renewal with Gatso was approved during the village board meeting earlier this week as part of the consent agenda, and without discussion. It's a one-year contract renewal that could go for as long as three years should issues not arise before the summer of 2021.

But the decision in Orland Park is in contrast to similar ones officials in other south suburbs, including Tinley Park and Oak Lawn, have begun to make regarding red-light cameras in recent months.

Tinley Park Police Chief Matthew Walsh said last December statistics there show the cameras do not improve safety in the village and called them a "revenue generator" only.

Patch Poll: 93 Percent Of Tinley Park Residents Want Red-Light Cameras Gone

While some studies have shown that red-light cameras do not make streets safer, McCarthy cites a recent Northwestern University Transportation Center study that suggests the cameras have been effective in preventing some types of crashes.

The study showed "significant safety benefits," McCarthy said, in reducing "angle crashes, which are the most serious." However, the study also found that cameras are responsible for causing rear-end crashes.

Red-light cameras have also been the subject of what McCarthy called "scandalous situations" regarding elected officials in Illinois. Earlier this year, State Sen. Martin Sandoval pleaded guilty to a charge of taking bribes in exchange for being the "protector" of red-light camera operators.

McCarthy said the village is "aware" of those situations as well, but will continue to look at the data produced by the Northwestern study in determining the cameras are an effective tool in enhancing public safety.

"If there's another study that comes out showing something different... we'll look at that too," he said.